Monday, May 26, 2014

Dear all,
thank you so much my friends for your patience and support during the time my blog was "under construction" for a much needed facelift and solving some technical problems. You rock!
A special note to Amelia@ameliasdessert for offering me her support when my blog got, as she put it "the hick ups" and made it difficult for visitors to comment. Merci, Amelia :)
I was definitely missing blogging much more than I ever imagined.
Have I become addicted?
Addicted for sure to the interaction with my friends, readers and fellow bloggers..
Addicted to the Adrenalin rush when time is short and you need to publish your next post.
Addicted to read the new posts my fellow bloggers wrote meantime.
Anyhow, this is probably one of the most harmless addictions and I'm sure every blogger knows what I'm talking about..
During the time I was updating my blog, I was facing a true construction site and there were days when I thought this is never going to finish.
I should have known...many of you warned me that this is going to take time and patience.
We are nearly ready ( there are always small things to adjust) and if you have any suggestions, I would appreciate your comments very much.
Now it's time to celebrate the new season and I would like to share with you one of our favorites for this time of the year.
This rich, melt in your mouth semifreddo is a great treat for guests or to enjoy with your family during spring and summer days.You need:
225 g of 70% dark chocolate
180 g soft, non salted butter
7 egg yolks
112g dark, non sweetened cocoa
225g icing sugar
370g heavy cream
3 cups Meringue crumbsFor the orange sauce:
2 oranges
The zest of one orange
1 spoonful of butter
3 spoonful caster sugar
2 spoonful of Cointreau (optional, can be replaced by freshly squeezed orange juice)

Instructions:
Whip egg yolks together with the icing sugar and soft butter until creamy and light in color.

Then fold in the cocoa, first with a rubber spatula ( to avoid the Cocoa dust) , then whip well until creamy.

Apart, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Take care that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.
Beat in the melted chocolate in the mixture.

Apart, whip heavy cream to soft peaks.

Fold in the whipped cream with a rubber spatula, gently but thoroughly.

Pour mixture carefully into a loaf pan, the first layer chocolate mixture, the next meringue crumbs.

Continue to alternate the different layers until the mold is filled.
Cover with plastic foil and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Cut off the top and the bottom of the other orange, then slice off the peel with a sharp knife. Make sure to remove all the white bits.
Then cut the individual slices of the orange along their thin skin.

Melt butter in a large, flat pan, add sugar and let cook at low heat for about 2 minutes or until sugar has dissolved and the mixture has slightly caramelized.

Add the Cointreau, Orange zest and fillets and simmer for 1 minute.
Then, remove from heat. Set apart.

To serve, remove the parfait from the freezer.

Place in a deep baking sheet filled with hot water (or place a hot, wet kitchen towel over the mold) until the outside of the parfait has softened.
Then place a serving plate upside down on top of the mold until the parfait slips out.

Remove the mold.

With a sharp knife , cut in slices (Rinse the knife with cold water from time to time to avoid that the parfait sticks to the knife).

Sunday, May 25, 2014

If you want
to surprise your guest, this delicious soup will do the trick.

I saw the
mushroom cream soup in this presentation for the first time in a restaurant in
Vienna, it's maybe because Viennese love their coffee so much that they prefer even
other dishes looking like coffee!

Trying it
convinced me, it’s a great treat!

For the
Mushroom Capuccino soup you need:

300g
Mushrooms

1 medium
onion

1 spoonful
of butter

1 spoonful
of Olive oil

1 spoonful
of flour

5 cups of
chicken broth

1 spoonful
of chopped parsley

2 cups of
light cream (reserve 1 cup for decoration)

Salt,pepper

1 spoonful nutmeg

Preparation:

Wash the
mushrooms carefully and divide into four or smaller,according to the size of the mushrooms.

Chop the
onion.

Melt the
butter together with the Olive oil, then add the onions and sauté slightly
until translucent , then add the mushroom and sauté until everything is tender.

Add the
parsley and cook for 2 more minutes until the flavors are blending into each
other.

Salt and
pepper then add the flour through a colander and stir well until the flour is
absorbed.

Stir frequently until the flour is absorbed

Add the
chicken broth stirring frequently until thickened.

In blender
or food processor purée the mixture until smooth.

Whip the
cream with a tiny bit of salt until soft peaks are formed, top the hot soup with it and sprinkle withnutmeg.

Note: This
recipe works also very well using foamed milk instead of the whipped cream.

Serves 4-6

Enjoy!

Note:

For the ones of you that have read my previous post, I just want to assure you that cooking is a real stress reducing therapy!

Have a look at the picture below of the disaster area in our home during unpacking. :)

So I went
into exile in my kitchen for a while to prepare today's recipe and hectic was
gone and calm was restored. Now I have only about 60 more boxes to unpack!